John McKay, the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington State who prosecuted B.C.'s Marc Emery, will join former B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant and Jodie Emery, Marc's wife, to call for the legalization and taxation of marijuana in Canada and the US during a lecture and media conference on Wednesday, April 18.

During the lecture, organized by Stop the Violence BC, McKay will share insights on the impact of B.C.'s marijuana industry on drug-related crime and violence in the Pacific Northwest region. A professor in the Faculty of Law at Seattle University, McKay is an avid supporter of the Washington State ballot initiative for the November election to implement a regulated, taxed market for marijuana. He was a U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2007, when he resigned along with eight other U.S Attorneys.